Jennifer Lee Hoffman v. State of Mississippi, 189 So. 3d 715

On August 16, 2013, Jennifer Hoffman met Henry Hood in Kosciusko after arranging sex for $100; Hood drove to a location in a Chevrolet Suburban where others were hidden.
During the encounter a man (Clearence Windom) allegedly held a knife to Hood’s throat, others took Hood’s wallet, cash ($580 total taken), and cell phone; Hood identified Hoffman as taking the phone.
Police stopped the Suburban soon after; occupants (including Hoffman) were arrested; officers found clothing, a mask, a knife, and recovered some cash from occupants and the vehicle.
Hoffman gave a written statement to police that denied involvement and later admitted at trial she had lied in that statement; co-defendants (Despres, McDaniel, Windom) testified implicating Hoffman and described distribution of stolen cash.
Hoffman was convicted by a jury of armed robbery, sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, moved for JNOV/new trial and other relief which were denied, and appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Hoffman)	Defendant's Argument (State)	Held
Admission of prior inconsistent statement	Statement admission was unnecessary for impeachment; procedure/foundation for extrinsic impeachment improper	Issue waived by failure to contemporaneously object; statement was voluntary and properly admitted	Issue procedurally barred — not preserved for appeal
Sufficiency of evidence for armed robbery	No definitive proof a deadly weapon was used; codefendants’ testimony unreliable; no proof Hoffman intended to rob Hood	Victim and codefendants testified a knife was used; testimony placed Hoffman participating and stealing phone	Evidence sufficient for a rational juror to convict — conviction affirmed
Weight of the evidence / New trial	Verdict against the overwhelming weight; jury should have believed Hoffman’s account	Jury entitled to credit codefendants and victim; evidence did not preponderate so heavily against verdict	Denial of new trial affirmed — no unconscionable injustice
Denial of instruction on lesser non-included offense (prostitution)	Requested instruction appropriate as lesser offense arising from same facts	State not required to instruct on uncharged offense; Hye controls	Denial affirmed — no right to lesser-nonincluded instruction under controlling precedent

Al-Fatah v. State, 916 So. 2d 584 (Miss. Ct. App. 2005) (standard of review for evidentiary rulings is abuse of discretion)
Moss v. State, 977 So. 2d 1201 (Miss. Ct. App. 2007) (reversal for evidentiary abuse requires prejudice)
Solanki v. Ervin, 21 So. 3d 552 (Miss. 2008) (directed verdict tests legal sufficiency)
Bush v. State, 895 So. 2d 836 (Miss. 2005) (Jackson standard for sufficiency review; weight-of-evidence standard)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (U.S. 1979) (constitutional sufficiency standard for criminal convictions)
Gathright v. State, 380 So. 2d 1276 (Miss. 1980) (jury as sole judge of witness credibility)
Moore v. State, 969 So. 2d 153 (Miss. Ct. App. 2007) (jury may accept or reject witness testimony)
Hye v. State, 162 So. 3d 750 (Miss. 2015) (defendant not entitled to instruction on uncharged, lesser non-included offense)
Griffin v. State, 533 So. 2d 444 (Miss. 1988) (overruled by Hye regarding lesser-offense instructions)
Lang v. State, 931 So. 2d 689 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006) (failure to object contemporaneously waives appellate review)
Ballenger v. State, 667 So. 2d 1242 (Miss. 1995) (preservation rules for objections)
Ross v. State, 954 So. 2d 968 (Miss. 2007) (contemporaneous objection required to preserve evidentiary claims)
Hayes v. State, 801 So. 2d 806 (Miss. Ct. App. 2001) (preservation and waiver principles)
Hunt v. State, 81 So. 3d 1141 (Miss. Ct. App. 2011) (issues not raised below are not reviewable on appeal)